council tax

[lochnettie80]

Wonder if any one can help , I have council tax arrears

 

it has been with bailiff for about a year I have not and will not pay them a penny,!

 

I have had 34 letters from them tyeblast in feb saying they arebin the process of sending it back to council

 

I have kept in contact with the council over this period of time and let them know on numerous noccations that I will not pay their fees so when it comes back I will pay .

 

Now yesterday I received a letter from said bailiff company giving me 7 days to contact them or an enforcemen5 agent will come uder the new rules adding 235 +7.5 % the lettee was dated the 1 april which means my 7 days were up beforethe lletter arrived at my address

 

is it woryh making a complaint to LA asit seems to me they are just trying to add fees again or contact the company to make payment

 

also the fees of 42.50 are still there for each acoount they have qdo yhey have to remove them if they are added the new charges

 

could sny one claify for me also if I have to let them in now under the new legislation aand if not can they break in

 

Any help is greatly welcomed thanks

[mikeymack2002]

I believe that in your situation the old ways still apply because this was out to the EA (enforcement Agent) before the 6th of April.

 

 

No you don't have to let them in there are many stickies on the front page of this forum to allow you to catch up on the new regs please read them as soon as you can to get up to date for yourself.

 

 

These will be he ones from tomtubby ok. Start with this one

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?412530-Council-Tax-arrears...should-you-let-a-bailiff-into-your-home

 

 

 

Also you will need to contact the LA to ask them for a list of all your LO's when and how much is due to them

 

 

Also remember that under no circumstances allow the EA in, deal with them at the door if you need to close it behind you take your keys with you.

 

 

Once they get in the rules will change against you as they will have gained peaceful entry

 

MM

[lochnettie80]

Is it worth formal complaint to council about the fact the time had already elapsed beforevletter received and this is the exact reasin as to why I will not deal with them , for me its all about gaining fees

 

I dont know if it makes a diffrence but ive krpt envelope

[ploddertom]

Have you been paying the Council instead?

[lochnettie80]

No not y3t as they hsd stated they would psy bailiff charges first and I have already osyed them once to a diffrent company that the council told me to stop paying so I dont see why ishould pay them twice on the same accounts , I have not ignored ut and spoke council on many occasions stating this

[mikeymack2002]

To help us understand the situation can you please post up your LO's how many and value and when they were obtained including the years this will make things clearer for anyone advising you.

 

 

As you have more than one it appears, also are you making any payment to the current years account? if not you will need to make sure you do not fall into arrears on this one, as the fees will be more than you can handle at present.

 

 

Also if you pay the council direct you are entitled to state which years the payment is for

 

 

MM

[ploddertom]

No not y3t as they hsd stated they would psy bailiff charges first and I have already osyed them once to a diffrent company that the council told me to stop paying so I dont see why ishould pay them twice on the same accounts , I have not ignored ut and spoke council on many occasions stating this

 

In that case you have no agreements you can fall back on. With the new Regulations they can use the old visit fees as the "Compliance Stage" and as no agreement is in place they can move to the "Enforcement Stage" - charging £235 along the way. Sorry to say but you will have to talk to them or alternatively talk to the Council and ask they tell the Bailiffs to accept a figure of £xxx per week/month otherwise you will get the Enforcement visit and the extra fees.

[lochnettie80]

Ok so contact the enforcement agents with an offer of payment , can I do this by email as i don't really want to phone , can they refuse offer of payment so that they can collect their enforcment fee very sceptical about contacting them as they always seem to push you to say you can pay more

[ploddertom]

By all means do it by email - although it may take a little longer. The chances are they will want some ridiculous figure that is both unattainable & unaffordable, if it is then as said previously ask the Council to tell them to accept on the basis they are being unreasonable.

[tomtubby]

It is important that when you make a payment proposal that you ensure that it is a sensible one bearing in mind that almost all local authority state in their contract with the enforcement company that their agents should ensure that payment arrangements are only to be accepted if th amount offered will ensure that the debt is clear WITNIN the current council tax year.

 

Also, it is very important to find out the precise amount of fees already charged. If the fees are MORE that £42.50 it would indicate that 'a levy' had been made on goods of yours (almost always a vehicle). If so, then the bailiff must continue charging the fees that were in force BEFORE 6th April. This is VITALLY important.

 

Since Monday we have come across 6 cases where the enforcement company have attempted to charge the NEW fee of £235 in cases where they have previously levied. They KNOW that they should not be doing this and it is VERY worrying indeed.